BOSTON, Mass. (taken from an Emmanuel press release) – The Brandeis women's basketball team suffered their second-straight loss tonight as the Judges dropped a 63-42 decision at Emmanuel College in a rematch of an ECAC Division III New England tournament semifinal from last year. The win was the third in a row for the Saints who improve to 4-2 on the year while the loss drops the Judges to 3-2 overall.
Graduate student Lena Negri (Arlington, Va.) netted a game-high 15 points while junior forward Jen Chalk (Horseheads, N.Y.) added a season-high 11 points to lead the Saints.
Brandeis came out of the gates strong, building a five-point in the lead in the first quarter after a pair of free throws by sophomore guard Noel Hodges (Southampton, N.Y./Southampton) put the visitors on top 11-6 with under two minutes to play in the stanza. EC freshman guard Maddie McLaughlin (Westerly, R.I.) answered with a three-ball to make it a one possession game at 11-9 before junior forward Maria Jackson (Rochester, N.Y./Hilton) converted a layup during the final minute of the quarter to give the Judges a 13-9 lead heading into the second frame.
After trading hoops to start the action in the second quarter to make it 15-11, Emmanuel went on a 6-0 spurt fueled by another McLaughlin trey to give the Saints a 17-15 lead. Brandeis senior guard Heather Cain (Gloucester, Mass./Gloucester) evened the score at 17-17 with a layup in traffic before Negri gave EC the lead for good with a transition layup with 5:05 to play in the second quarter, putting Emmanuel on top 19-17. The Saints closed out the first half on a 12-2 run to take a 29-19 lead into the halftime intermission.
The Saints opened things up in the third quarter, reeling off a 9-0 run over the first two minutes of play to extend the lead to 37-19. Senior forward Ceara McNamara (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) ended a five minute scoreless drought for the Judges to end the run and make it 37-21 with 6:34 to play in the third. It would remain a 16 point contest heading into the final quarter with the Saints leading 49-33 at the end of three.
A 7-0 run to open the final quarter was all the Saints needed to sit back and cruise to their third consecutive non-conference win of the year at home, holding on for the 63-42 victory.
Jackson finished with a team-high 12 points for Brandeis while junior forward Sydney Sodine (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) was one point away from a double-double, finishing with a game-high 11 rebounds and nine points.
Chalk finished the game shooting 4-for-5 from the floor and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe while also collecting three steals. Brandeis was able to hold EC's leading scorer Sarah Higgins (Groveland, Mass.) to a season-low seven points but the senior made up for it with a season-high eight assists in the victory.
Emmanuel is now idle until December 1 at 7:00 PM when they head to Amherst College to take on the No. 2 ranked team in the country according to the most recent D3Hoops.com national coaches' poll. The Judges are back the same night when they host Simmons College at 7:30 PM.